FARMERS HARD HIT

Dominion, Volume 15, Issue 56, 30 November 1921, Page 7

FARMERS HARD HIT

“INDUSTRY BEING STRANGLED”

THE NEW FREEZERS’ AWARD

BURDEN OF INTEREST, FREEZING CHARGES, AND FREIGHT

By Telegraph—Special Correspondent. Masterton, November 29. At ite meeting this afternoon the Council of the Chamber of Commerce discussed several matters of interest to the farming community. A number of men interested in farming and commercial pursuits were present by invitation.

The first' matter dealt with related to the freezing industry, Mr. L. T. Daniell said that ho, had been reading tho Arbitration Court award for freezing workers and must confess to being disappointed. “The farmer,” ho continued', "is hard hit. He has tried to explain his position to business men. He has pointed out that his return for any product is not one-half of tho 1913-14 return and has been met with the answer, 'Cut your costs so that you can produce at tho old figures, and then pray that the market will rise.' I have here copies of two killing-sheets of cattle killed and frozen. You will see that cows which cost tho owner £7 10s. per head to buy, cost him another -£S per head to land on the boat in Wellington, and that bullocks which cost -£l2 10s: per head to Buy and 412 yer hend to fatten, cost another -£ll 10s. per head to put on the steamer. Three charges which are killing the farmer to-day are interest, freezing charges, and freight. The bank .rate of interest has fallen .in England, freights are to be revised in January, and great things v/ere expected fiom the freezing award; and. behold, whereas the farmer is forced to accept half his low pre-war returns, the freezing worker gets 12 J to 15 per cent, put on to his neak wages of 1919. The farmer works 65 to 75 hours per week, for less than nothing, while the freezing worker works 44 hours per week at the previous high rate of pay. nnd two hours at least are given to a definite 'smoke-oh.' Our industry is being strangled. Farmers have not the gift of concise expression, but have looked so far in vain for the business mon of the community to see the position .into which they are being forced, and to get assistance for them through a legal channel, to cut New Zealand costs, nnd through tbo Government, to low/w freights. A ton of cement costs J!3 ss. in freight. The Government has a freight contract for coal, for .£1 15s. and less, while the unfortunate farmer has to pay .£l6 13s. 4d. per ton freight on his wool and 2s. 6d. on his moat. Two bales of wool, weighing 8001 b, ore dumped into a space of 3ft. Gin by 2ft. 6in. by 2ft. Gin., practically as comnact cargo as a cask of cement, yet we have to pay five times ns much.'' Mr. Daniell presented a statement on nine cows and one steer sold', which showed a loss of .£lB.

Many Charges Doubled. Mr. J. C. Cooper said that, unfortunately, he was not in a position to refute Mr. Daniell’s statements, and, if anything, ho could only give them endorsement. After going into a comparison of costs in 1913-14 and to-day in regard to delivery, he said that to-day the cost of freezing alone was very nearly double the total charges for delivery in London in 1913-14. Railway costs had nearly doubled, while shipping freights had increased. In regard to his company, about 48.8 per -cent; of freezing costs was paid in wages and salaries. The freezing companies had demanded a reduction equivalent to the bonus given last year to the workers, and the recent freezing award had been different to what they had hoped. ( Tho Court stated that the 1919 agreement rate musi remain as the basic wage. The Court had deducted a small sum. Tho wage fixed was far too high. He had telegraphed a most emphatic objection to the fixing of such an agreement, but no success had followed. He could not understand what their people were doing in Wellington. They could got a revision of the award in six months, but the season would be over by then. Ho contended that the Court in fixing such an award had done the country and the industry a ..grievous injury. As far as coal and sheep bags were concerned, there would. be a reduction in price io tho companies. Unless they got more pace out of the ' men there would be no great improvement in the position. There were complaints everywhere of men not giving fair value for tho wago received. Mr. - Cooper also said that no company during the past year had made a profit on freezing charges, and they would have to put their charges up. He hoped that his own company would not bo forced to put up its charges. The shipping companies were up against labour costs. Tho freezing companies had spent their profits rn'adq during recent years in increasing the storage capacity at their works in order lo mdet the ro’quirements of the country. To day a lot of that expenditure was waste, as the additions would not be useful for years to come. The shipping companies, on the other hand, were not faced with such a dead asset. Unless the State in New Zealand helped the shipping companies, there was no chance of getting shipping down. It was up to the shipping companies to come to the assistance of the freezing companies by cutting rales as fine as possible. Mr. J. A. Betts said that a strong effort should be made to get a reduction in freezing and shipping charges. _As long as there was preference to unionists' the farmer would be strangled. Appeal to Mr. Massey. After further discussion it. was decid ed: "That tho Prime Minister be urged to continue his efforts until ho succeeds in getting shipping freights considerably reduced, otherwise not only will the farming community be absolutely crippled, but whole business interes.s will be likewise affected.” It was decided on tho motion of Mr. J. C. Cooper to urge that the prefer-ence-to-unionists’ clause bo deleted from the labour laws of the Dominion. It was decided on tho mo-ion of Mr. J. Caselborg: "That the chamber deprecate the unfair award of the Arbitration Court in granting such a high basic wage for a small section of thecommunity for a period of two years, the immediate effect of which is to prevent the farmer or producer front employing labour in other directions.”